Clover Trail to power new Galaxy Tab

Intel seems to have grabbed its first major smart device Atom win courtesy of Samsung.

The news is hardly surprising, as rumours of an Intel powered Galaxy tablet emerged a couple of weeks ago, but they were not confirmed.

Now Reuters confirms that a Clover Trail+ chip will indeed power the upcoming Galaxy Tab 3 10.1. The exact specs of the new tablet, or chip for that matter, are still unknown. However, this seems like the first big Intel design win in a market dominated by ARM based SoCs, including Samsung’s own Exynos parts.

It is a rather surprising turn of developments. At a time when Apple is pursuing custom ARM parts, Samsung is turning to Intel for mobile silicon. It wouldn’t be the first Samsung tablet powered by Intel, as the Korean outfit already uses Intel chips in ATIV Windows 8 tablets, but this is its first Android powered Intel tablet. The decision might bode well for Intel’s shiny new CEO Brian Krzanich, who is apparently planning to step up the chip maker’s mobile game.

Samsung is expected to announce new ATIV tablets on 20 June, but it is still unclear when it plans to announce the third generation Galaxy Tab. Samsung tends to shy away from big events like Computex and MWC, preferring its own launch events, so it’s unlikely that we will see it until Computex is over.